


please don't run

by bffmarks



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom, NCT Dream, NCT U - Fandom, WAYV
Genre: Lucas wants to find out who spidey is, M/M, a tale of both love and self acceptance, but a cute boy came along and he doesn't wanna hide anymore, complications arise!!!!!!!!, he is determined to find out, he will get in trouble to get to see him again, heheheh idk what else to put here ur gonna have 2 read to know what its about ;), lucas low-key thinks spiderman is cute even though he's only seen him in the suit on tv, renjun and sicheng have a really close relationship, renjun as Spiderman!!!!!, renjun is still coming 2 terms w his abilities but!!! just wants to be normal, renjun realllllly doesn't want anyone to know he's spidey besides jeno.....
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 16:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20343403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bffmarks/pseuds/bffmarks
Summary: In which Renjun, a once average student accepts an internship at a biochemistry lab and deals with a lot more than biochemical theory. With the fate of his city (and a really cute boy named Lucas who always happens to need saving) on the line, he must do whatever it takes to make New York safe for the population again - and maybe even fall in love at the same time.





	please don't run

**Author's Note:**

> thank you guys so much for reading! my twitter is @ nctpowers if any of you guys have any questions :D I hope u enjoy!!!!

Ever since Renjun was younger, he always knew he was different. Perhaps it was the fact that when he was in gym class with his friends and they were playing any type of sport, he seemed to run faster, jump higher and have more adrenaline than anyone else. At first, Renjun’s parents didn’t think much of it - they thought the boy just had a lot of pent up energy, or that he was just incredibly good at sports. Renjun used to believe that too, that was, until one day in grade seven he found himself at the wrong place and the wrong time.

It all dawned on him when he happened to be walking home from studying at the library later than usual. Since it was finals week, he planned to stay until the library closed, which was one a.m. He usually never stayed this late, his parents usually made him come home before it got dark out. That night, they made an exception - good grades seemed to be a good leeway for his normal curfew. 

Renjun decided to take the shorter route through the park near his house, as staring at both formulas and chemical compounds made him extra tired and his lonely bed seemed to be calling his name. As he walked through the park in which he knew like the back of his hand, he began to feel as if someone was watching him. When he looked behind him, nobody was there; yet he still felt an overbearing presence that seemed to take over his senses. He chalked it up to him just being paranoid, his best friend Jeno had told him about how people have been going missing in parks around Seoul all throughout the month - but Renjun never took him seriously. Jeno usually didn’t fact check when it came to things he’d overheard, so he considered everything he said to not be true; or at least, took everything with a grain of salt. 

That was one of the first times he wished he actually listened to Jeno. 

Renjun didn’t remember much. In fact, the whole night was a blur to him. The only thing he did remember is that someone placed their hand over his mouth, and Renjun went into pure fight-or-flight mode. Every pent up emotion Renjun had in his body went into overdrive, his senses completely taking over. He remembered throwing the man who had grasped his face over his body (something he never thought he was capable of), and the man hitting the tree trunk, slumping down unconscious. Renjun was in complete shock, unaware where all that force and power came from. He didn’t have time to think, as he turned around to see another man running towards him. Renjun wasn’t sure what possessed him, but he knew he needed to use whatever it was to his advantage before he ended up like the man he dealt with earlier. 

Something in his mind was telling him to throw his hands in front of him. Something was almost forcing him to make those actions and Renjun was running on way too much fear and adrenaline to question what his body was telling him - it had not seemed to fail him just yet. 

When Renjun placed both of his hands in front of him, there was a mixture of both shock and horror when webs left the palms of his hands. The webs had attached themselves to the two men, and shot one of them back to the park bench, and the other to the light ramp, and caused the light to go out, and surround Renjun in darkness.

Renjun didn’t know who to fear most; the three men who tried to attack him, or himself. 

\--- 

When Renjun wished to have anything but a boring summer, he didn’t expect to spend the majority of his nights wandering around his neighbourhood looking to fight crime. In fact, he pictured spending his summer nights getting drunk, playing dumb games such as truth or dare and spin the bottle and finally hanging out with his friends. He pictured his life to be mundane, not filled with surprises every single time he woke up from a nap or got out of a chemistry lab. 

When Renjun first discovered his abilities, he vowed to keep them strictly for helping people. He wasn’t going to use it for selfish reasons - he had this strange feeling that if he used them that way, it was going to come back and bite him in the ass. He also felt the need to keep it a secret; only his best friend Jeno knew. He felt guilty hiding it from his older brother Sicheng, but he felt it was necessary, he didn’t want his brother thinking he was some sort of freak. That was partly the reason why he wore a bright red and blue suit he had made; and partly because he was afraid that if he were to reveal his true identity, the government was surely to come after him and he very much rather not be on the government’s hit list. He watched way too many government conspiracy theories to know what they did to people who didn’t fit the ‘norm’ of society. 

His biggest fear was someone thinking he was some sort of monster when in reality, he was anything but. He only wanted to help people. He wanted to make a difference, not create any problems. 

\---

Being a college science student, Renjun rarely had time to sleep, let alone think about anything besides chemical compounds during the school year. That being said he had been continuously counting down the days until his summer vacation, a time where he wouldn’t have felt guilty for taking a little more time to focus on himself and his friendships rather than anything related to chemistry or physics. Although, that freedom of guilt was to be short lived ; he started his summer internship at the laboratory the following morning (It would have been a pain to go through, but he motivated himself with the ideal that it was going to look much better on his Medical School Resume if he did some interning at a well known laboratory). 

As Renjun turned the corner to the familiar apartment building where he and his older brother Sicheng lived, he felt a wave of exhaustion hit his entire body. Usually, the adrenaline from whatever he did the same night covered him until he successfully snuck back into the apartment. This time, Renjun felt as if he wasn’t bothered enough to try and sneak in through his bedroom window. He quickly reached in to check the time that read on his phone screen; but was met with a dark screen - his phone had died. He figured that by this time, everyone and most likely Sicheng was asleep anyways. Renjun decided to take the risk by walking in through the front door. 

It was too dark to see his apartment window from the ground, and there was not a light that seemed to be on, so he took the opportunity to just use the front door normally. Before entering the building, Renjun quickly ran to the back, where behind one of the many trash shoots in a black drawstring bag, was a pair of black sweatpants and a light grey sweatshirt. He quickly pulled both over his suit, removed his mask, and placed it in the hoodie pocket. He didn’t want to take a chance by walking in the lobby with his suit on. 

Renjun regretted his decision when he got to the empty lobby of his apartment to see that the elevator was out of use due to maintenance, which meant he had to walk up to the tenth floor. Renjun groaned in defeat, body aching, yet still managed to walk up the metal stairs trying to make as little noise as possible (he was very light on his feet). 

As Renjun placed his metal key in the front door, he winced as the lock made a slight screeching sound, hoping it wasn’t enough to wake his older brother. He turned it as slowly as possible, and turned around to shut the door softly. He let go of a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding the entire time, knowing he got in safely and quietly. The only place left to go, was his bedroom.

“Where the hell have you been?” The adrenaline that had earlier left his body returned at the sound of his older brother’s clearly upset voice. His voice echoed the empty apartment.

Renjun shut his eyes and turned around slowly, trying to think of an excuse his brother would have believed. “I was just out with some friends, Sichengie-”

“Don’t Sichengie me!” His brother snapped. Renjun flinched at the raised voice. “Do you realize what time it is?” He looked over at his brother, who was wearing an oversized sweatshirt that used to belong to their father, and his black sweatpants. He looked visibly tired, dark bags under his eyes and his hair a mess. Renjun felt a slither of guilt rush up to his ears, knowing his brother must not be mad at him, but must have been worried. Sicheng’s worry was understandable. 

“Midnight?” Renjun asked quietly, knowing very well it was way later. Sicheng widened his eyes in frustration as he ran a hand through his hair. Renjun just looked down, playing with his fingers. He was hoping his brother would just let the conversation go and let him get to bed. 

“Midnight? Are you serious? It’s almost four in the morning! Do you realize how scared I was? You weren’t even answering your phone!” Renjun knew Sicheng was trying his best to contain his anger, it was easy to tell when Renjun thought Sicheng might potentially break his jaw if he pressed down any harder. 

“I’m sorry, my phone was dead-” Renjun started, but his older brother was not having any of it. He just grabbed the younger and pulled him into a hug. It was moments like this Renjun felt the most guilty for not telling his brother what really was going on in his life. 

“Don’t scare me like that again, Renjunnie.” Sicheng whispered. “I can’t lose you, you’re all I have.”

\---

It was the morning of his first day at the Biochemistry Lab of New York and Renjun wasn’t able to get rid of the feeling of nervousness that found its home within his stomach. He looked through the black bag he’d had for years, for what seemed like the hundredth time, making sure he had everything he needed. He made sure that every single piece of paperwork was filled out accordingly and had extras (just in case). Renjun knew this was too good of an opportunity to let slip from his fingers, so he made sure that he did everything right to leave a proper first impression on the staff. 

Renjun looked at himself in the mirror, eyes glazing over his appearance one last time before he headed out the door. Sicheng had shown him what to wear - he never would have been able to choose the outfit by himself otherwise. Renjun didn’t want to seem unprofessional, so he was wearing black dress pants and a light blue button down with the sleeves rolled up slightly. 

“Junnie, I think you need to relax.” Renjun turned his head to see Sicheng leaning against the frame of his bedroom door. Renjun was glad to see his brother didn’t seem to be upset about last night. At the same time, he rolled his eyes at the naivety of his brother, he didn’t understand how critical this internship was. This was potentially a gateway into his future career - something that would solidify connections in the biochemistry field and would make his job hunting easier for when he graduated. If all went well, there was a possibility they would hire him to have been a part of their team. 

“I am trying, but this is an insane opportunity. I need it to go well. You know what? I’m sure it will.” Renjun replied, his voice not sounding too convincing. He always had trouble trusting his capabilities, having to constantly reassure himself that he was indeed smart, or that he was fully capable of doing whatever he wanted despite the voice in the back of his head which created inevitable doubts and unquestionable worry. Even though he was able to take down the people who lurked the night and made the city a dangerous place, he was more worried about what the scientists at the lab thought of him. 

“They wouldn’t have asked you to be an intern if they didn’t think you were qualified in some aspects.” Sicheng stated, walking towards his brother. Deep down, Renjun knew he was right. Clearly, the lab saw something in him that he didn’t, and a small smile appeared on his face. Sicheng placed his hands on both of his little brothers’ shoulders, and the simple action calmed the nerves that were brewing in the pit of his stomach. 

“That’s true.” Renjun replied sheepishly. He shut his eyes, and took a deep breath. He picked his bag up from his bed, and slung it over his shoulder. “I need to go before I’m late.”

Sicheng smiled at his brother, and nodded his head in understanding. “Go get ‘em, Junnie.”

Renjun walked the busy streets of New York, carefully avoiding the puddles that found a home on the sidewalks and crosswalks. Following his Google Maps application on his phone, he slowly but surely found himself facing the front door of the laboratory (although he accidentally went the wrong way for seven blocks before he realized). If he thought he was nervous before, that was nothing compared to a swarm of bees that found home within his body. 

Renjun shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He loved biochemistry, he loved learning and discovering new ideas and testing theories - and this internship was nothing but an extension of what he loved doing. He wasn’t supposed to feel nervous, but instead, excited at this opportunity.

“Uh, are you okay?” Renjun instantly opened his eyes and felt a sensation of heat rush to his face. A boy who looked a little bit older than him (and much taller) glanced at Renjun with both a sense of confusion and slight worry. “You look like you’re lost.” 

Renjun chuckled nervously, playing with the straps of his backpack. “Oh, no, I’m not, I swear. It’s actually my first day.” Renjun wasn’t able to help but feel intimidated at the older’s presence. He was wearing a crisp navy blue suit, thin-metal framed glasses and a white lab coat. It kind of made Renjun feel like his outfit wasn’t up to the laboratory’s standards  
.  
“Oh! Then you must be Renjun, right?” The older held his hand out for Renjun to shake to which Renjun awkwardly shook back. “The new intern?” For as long as he was able to remember, meeting people was something that was proven difficult for him. He’d always envied his brother, who had no difficulty when it came to making friends or meeting new people. Renjun wished he would have grown out of his awkward stage by that time, but no luck nor evidence of it stopping any time soon was evident. 

“Yes! That’s me.” Renjun replied timidly. He made sure to fix his posture so that he was standing up a bit more straight. He didn’t want to been as uncultured or someone with no manners. 

“Perfect, I’m Johnny. I’m pretty much the one who owns this place. Call me Mr. Suh, please. Why don’t you follow me, I’ll bring you to my office.” 

Renjun followed Johnny into the building, eyes instantly widening as he entered. All the furniture was a bright shade of white, every single person had on a lab coat with the name of the lab embroidered in the back. Most of them didn’t even acknowledge their entrance, too busy talking to their coworkers about something on a clipboard, or rushing from one room to the next. He was impressed; the pictures on google images did not do the lab any justice. 

Renjun walked quickly behind the chemist, trying to match his quick pace. They walked into the elevator, which was much like the interior of the building— completely white. “It’s nice, isn’t it.” Johnny said as a satisfactory smile appeared on his face. “My coworker Doyoung and I invested over two hundred million to make this place perfect.”

Renjun looked at Johnny with gaping eyes. “Two hundred million?” Renjun barely had thirty-three dollars to his name, while the man standing next to him probably had more in his wallet than he had ever made in his life. “That’s expensive.”

Ever since Renjun was sixteen, he’d been living with his older brother Sicheng. Their parents randomly moved back to Korea in the middle of the night, leaving both young Sicheng and Renjun alone in their Queens’ apartment in New York, that was about to be evicted due to rent that has not been paid in months. Although Sicheng was only five years older, he became the one who had to provide for both of them, the parental figure. He had to give up his youth in order to salvage Renjun’s. They didn’t have much, but they had each other and that was what truly counted. 

“Expensive? That’s nothing. My salary is much more.” Johnny smirked. Renjun wondered what it was like to wake up in the morning and not be worried about how he was going to help pay rent that month. Both he and his brother had to take jobs on top of school in order to just barely make it each month, while there were others in the world that didn’t even need to worry about such things. Perhaps it was selfish of him to wish for a better life, but it was something that he wasn’t able to help himself from wanting. 

Renjun just remained silent as the elevator slowly made its way to the top floor, which he assumed was where both the labs and offices were located. The elevator was playing a cheerful tune, something which made Renjun slightly uneasy. The contrast of his feelings of nervousness and the positive sounds of the elevator music left an eerie feeling creep up his body. 

Nobody spoke in the elevator, the only form of communication between the two was the sound of slight humming created by Johnny, who was humming along to the beat. In other circumstances, Renjun would have thought that this silence was awkward and would try to crack a joke, but he used his judgement and thought maybe Johnny wasn’t someone who appreciated his awful humour. Renjun wondered why this elevator was taking longer than the average, but pushed out the thoughts when he boiled it down to his overthinking. Renjun wasn’t able to stop himself from thinking that if he was able to use his webs, he was able to get to the top much faster than that elevator. 

Finally the doors rang, opening wide to reveal a room that held a completely different vibe than the lobby downstairs. Rather than the stark white that coated everything, the room was set to a dark blue. Computers set on every desk, accompanied by people who seemed to be typing furiously. Renjun looked to his left to see a group of people who were busy separating different liquids into different vials, and quickly writing down everything they saw; as if scared that it was going to disappear. 

Johnny started walking deeper into the room, Renjun following. They walked past people working, all who which greeted Johnny as he walked by. It was odd, but Renjun wasn’t there to judge how the lab worked. Renjun awkwardly waved and smiled at everyone when they looked at him oddly, as if they were confused why a small boy was following presumably, the boss. 

While walking, Renjun caught eye to a group of workers who seemed to be speaking to a robot, who was reacting to their voice commands. Confused on why they were playing with such products in a lab which was supposed to be focusing on biochemistry, he wasn’t able to stop himself from being curious as to what they were doing. How was the robot reacting? Why did it look so human like? 

“That's the robotics team.” Johnny stopped walking. Renjun was too busy staring at the chunks of metal that he didn’t realize Johnny wasn’t walking anymore. He bumped right into him, and Renjun widened his eyes as he apologized furiously, which Johnny ignored. “They’re trying to develop a robot that would be able to handle the living organisms of a human. It would be an incredible discovery and would change science as we know it.”

Renjun was confused, and looked at Johnny. “That’s impossible, in order for living organisms to actually be living is for the host body to actually be alive and be able to photosynthesize.”

“You’ll soon learn, Renjun, that nothing is truly impossible if you want it badly enough. Trust me, they’ll find a way to make it happen.” Johnny smirked at the younger, who just nodded in response. Johnny continued walking until they finally reached his office.  
When Renjun stepped into the office, he wasn’t able to stop himself from gasping. He was pretty sure it was bigger than his whole apartment back in Queens. Marble tiles covered the flooring, the furniture a striking silver. Instead of walls, the room was covered by a glass cube; one of the glass panes overlooking the city of New York beautifully. Renjun found himself slowly walking towards the scenic view. Before he was able to get close to the glass pane, the scenery disappeared, replaced by that of a street in Paris.

“I can change it to whatever I want it to be.” Johnny started, as he sat in his big leather chair. “Paris, Rome, an isolated beach in Hawaii… I’ve developed this technology so that it would make me feel more at peace. I usually have it on New York so I feel less trapped in this building - it’s quite funny, really, but my technology really can influence how one perceives the world.” Although Renjun was able to acknowledge the incredible intelligence the older had, he did also notice the slight arrogance as well. Nonetheless, he still respected him.

“That’s so cool.” Renjun muttered as he watched in awe of Johnny flip through various destinations on the screen, before settling to the scenic view of New York City. “But, uh, Mr. Suh, what does this have to do with biochemistry?” He awkwardly played with the loose straps of his backpack, not wanting to make eye contact. Johnny laughed, which caught Renjun off guard. He shot up his head in confusion. He didn’t remember saying anything funny. 

“Renjun, it has everything to do with biochemistry. Let me explain something to you real quick. The first thing you’ll learn here is that everything is connected. All science, all technology is linked. Nothing can exist independently. If you master, for example, biochemistry like I have, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Becoming an expert in everything will not only make you superior, but an incredible asset to any situation. That’s why I created Suh Laboratories with some partners. I wanted to be part of the bigger picture. I want to make sure everyone has access to the information I create. Of course, for a hefty charge.” 

“Oh, yeah, totally knew that Mr. Suh. That totally makes sense. I should have thought of that earlier.” Renjun laughed awkwardly, hoping the boss wouldn’t dock some points for not knowing that. Renjun remembered all the paperwork he was told to fill out that was in his bag, and quickly took the bag off his back and handed Johnny the paperwork. 

“Relax, kid. What’s this?”

“The paperwork I was supposed to fill out for the internship.” Renjun responded carefully, unsure why the chemist wasn’t aware of the forms he needed to fill out - especially because he was supposed to work for his lab.

Before Johnny was able to answer, somebody knocked on the office door, capturing both their attentions. Since it was glass, Renjun was able to see the person that was on the outside of the office. He was wearing a light grey suit, which contrasted to Johnny’s navy one (but both of them looked extremely expensive). Great, he thought. Another person to be intimidated by. 

“Ah yes, right on time.” Johnny sighed, motioning for the man to come in. The man walked through the doors of the office. Renjun didn’t notice at first, but he was carrying a stack of papers in one hand, and a briefcase in another. The man had a cold expression on his face and walked straight past the younger and stood in front of Johnny’s desk. Damn, Renjun thought. He must have been fun at parties. 

“Here’s the report from the robotics team. It’s all been edited and marked down, so it should be passable in time for your presentation at the university.” The man explained, setting down the thick pile of papers on the silver desk. “I condensed it as much as possible without excluding the vital information, Sir.” Johnny picked up the stack of paper and flipped through it causally before putting it back down on his desk. 

“Great as always, Kun.” Johnny looked at Renjun, who desperately avoided eye contact with the older. “This is Renjun, the new intern. Renjun, this is my assistant, Kun. Kun will show you the rest of the labs and teach you a couple things. Maybe even get you a new suit because I’m going to keep it quite frank, this one is stressing me out.” Renjun’s eyes widened as Johnny glazed at his outfit. He felt heat rush up to his cheeks and ear, embarrassed. 

“My brother picked it out.” He huffed quietly, even though he knew none of them were listening to him. He didn’t think his outfit was that bad. 

Kun was at the door of the office when he stopped and looked back at Renjun, almost with a look of annoyance. “Well, are you coming or are you just going to gawk at Johnny all day?” Renjun felt a blush rise to his cheeks to replace the embarrassement, and instantly rushed out of his chair as he slung his bag over his left shoulder. 

“Nice meeting you Mr. Suh!” He waved awkwardly and followed Kun out the office door. He accidentally bumped into one of the many black leather couches in his office, and out of instinct, apologized to it. Not daring to look at Johnny, he quickly walked to the door. When they had finally left the room, Kun looked over at the boy and Renjun could have sworn that his cold expression faltered for a slight second.

“I’m Renjun! Huang Renjun!” He smiled, holding his hand out for the other to shake. Kun just looked down at his hand then back at Renjun, and didn’t seem impressed. He didn’t shake his hand, but instead, just kept walking. 

“That’s the biology lab. You can’t go there, it’s off limits for interns.” Kun pointed to a room on their left, which also was encased with glass walls. Inside, a bunch of men and women in lab coats were circling a bunch of vials and test tubes - clearly focusing intently. “That’s the neurochemistry lab, off limits as well. The robotics lab is off limits too.” 

Renjun felt slightly defeated, wishing he had access to all the rooms he was pointing out. He knew he was just an intern but he was curious as to what was enclosed within the glass walls of each room. He’d never been surrounded by such a plethora of information and resources, and he wanted to take advantage of that as much as possible. He wondered if maybe any of these resources would have been helpful to figure out what was going on within himself. Selfish, he knew, but after years of researching, he has yet to come to a conclusion on what had happened to him that night. 

“This is the biochemistry lab, no access to that either.” Renjun looked at Kun weirdly. Why didn’t he have access to the lab? He was supposed to work there, but how was he supposed to work when he was isolated from the very place he was supposed to be? “If we find you in any of those rooms without prior permission, we will terminate your internship and ban you from not only our company, but all our brother and sister companies, which includes more than half of New York City. So, don’t burn your bridges.” Renjun hated to admit it, but he was slightly scared of Kun. The man seemed to be a bit too uptight for his liking. 

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Renjun began, not wanting to overstep his boundaries. “I’m literally a biochemistry intern, shouldn’t I at least have access to that lab?”

Kun stopped walking and turned around to face Renjun and he was able to feel all the colour drain from his face. He hadn’t known Kun for long at all, but he already figured out it probably wasn’t a good idea to get him mad. 

“You’re an intern. You don’t have much place here besides for that title. Each lab comes with responsibilities and trust. You’re still a newbie. Just because Mr. Suh chose you, doesn’t mean you won’t earn what you get. Why don’t you just-”  
Before Kun was able to scold Renjun even more, a blaring alarm set off, and Renjun covered his ears, the piercing sound hurting his eardrums. Kun’s expression changed from one of anger to one of panic, then to what looked like terror. 

Renjun knew this wasn’t some type of typical lab emergency — no amount of dissolvent seemed to be enough for the gravity of the issue. Why was the alarm so loud?

“Get out of the building now, they’re here.” Kun grabbed Renjun by the shoulders and shoved him towards the emergency exit. 

“Don’t take the elevator, run down those stairs and go home.” Renjun looked at Kun as if he was crazy, not sure what was going on. He didn’t move from his spot. It was as if his body wasn’t listening to the part of him that wanted to run far away from this building, and chose to stay here, and he knew exactly why.

Renjun wasn't able to help but think that It was a good thing he packed his suit.


End file.
